Once upon a time, a little place called 800 Degrees decided it could redefine fast-food pizza. Needless to say, it was a success. And that success inevitably led to copycats like Blaze Pizza. Surely this is not a bad thing in general because it will ultimately lead to better or more affordable food, but in the short-run I set out to see if Blaze could deliver (figuratively, of course).

I chose make my own pie, which includes all the ingredients you want for a fixed rate of under $9. I opted for the spicy red sauce, mozzarella and ricotta, then pepperoni, Italian sausage and a touch of bacon. It was lacking some of the Italian specialty ingredients like soppressata that 800 Degrees has, but just about everything you could want on a pizza was there. After a few moments in the oven, it was ready for eating.

The crust was both thin and solid, not allowing itself to stay soggy in the middle like its competitor. The ingredients were as awesome as you would expect from making your own pizza. But specifically I could tell that the pepperonis and sausage weren’t the super cheap variety you’d find at Papa John’s.

Blaze Pizza may not be doing a lot to differentiate itself yet in terms of its offerings, but it is definitely a more sterile, cookie cutter type of place than 800 Degrees. For example, the dough is perfectly even and round, while the ingredients are almost perfectly spaced. You can call this quality control if you like it or a lack of individuality if you’re not a fan. Either way, the pizza is quite good and worthwhile.